Whey is a by-product of cheese manufacture. Whey comprises the serum or watery part of milk that is separated from the coagulable part or curd in the process of cheese making. Whey is rich in lactose, minerals, vitamins and protein (lactalbumin).
Cheese manufacturers have attempted to utilize whey as a source of protein. Thus, whey is subjected to filtration to capture the protein component. The retentate of this filtration, known as whey protein concentrate, has some commercial utility as a relatively inexpensive source of milk protein. It is used as an animal feed. A cheese-making installation producing 20,000 pounds of cheese per day will also produce 180,000 pounds of whey. The whey is typically diluted 20% or more with water prior to filtration. From this amount of whey, roughly 2,700 pounds of whey protein concentrate is obtained. The balance of the whey material, constituting the permeate from the whey filtration, may be used as a source of lactose. More typically, it is discarded, even though it is a rich source of vitamins and minerals.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,064,674, describes the production of a hypoallergenic milk product from a whey permeate obtained by passing casein-free sweet whey through an ultrafiltration membrane having a 10 kDa cut off, that is, the filter excluded molecules having a size greater than 10 kDa. Other hypoallergenic milk products are prepared from a milk permeate, generated by filtering milk through an ultrafiltration membrane having a 5 kDa cut-off. The milk or whey permeate is effectively deproteinized and defatted by the ultrafiltration treatment. The permeate is supplemented with hypoallergenic protein, fat, vitamins, minerals and favorings to form an essentially hypoallergenic milk product.
Other hypoallergenic milk products are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,361.
Geilman et al., J. Dairy Sci. 75, 2364-2369 (1992), discloses the preparation of an electrolyte beverage from milk permeate. Whole milk was filtered through a 20 kDa exclusion membrane. The permeate was hydrolyzed with lactase and then acidified to pH 3.5-3.8 with citric acid. No adjustment was made to reduce the concentration of potassium. Sucrose was furthered added as a sweetener. However, Geilman et al. do not suggest forming an electrolyte drink from whey permeate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,078,093 describes a hypoallergenic chocolate prepared by treating cocoa powder so as to denature substantially all of the protein allergens which cause chocolate allergies. Denaturation is achieved by a prolonged two-step heat treatment. In a first step, cocoa powder is prepared by heating the ground nibs of roasted cocoa beans at 215-300.degree. F. at 5500-8000 lb./in.sup.3 for 15-90 minutes. In the second step, the cocoa powder prepared in the first step, is combined with cocoa butter and sugar and further heat-treated at 180-190.degree. F. for 48-96 hours.